Chemical reaction in a pharmaceutical company

An employee was preparing a batch of glycol stearate emulsifier in a vessel. Upon completion of product, the quality control lab reported that the pH was too high and the product needed to be bleached.
When the employee reached the step of adding the sodium borohydride, he decided to relieve the pressure in the vessel by opening the valve used to introduce sodium chlorite. As he opened the valve, sodium chlorite (liquid) residue discharged, spraying the grating and the plastic bucket which contained sodium borohydride. The sodium borohydride reacted with the sodium chlorite, producing hydrogen gas which flashed into the employee's face. He was wearing splash goggles as face and eye protection, but nevertheless he experienced burns.

Accidentally produced hydrogen due to human error.

Chemical reactor vessel (glycol stearate emulsifier)

The event occurred during a manually operated chemical process. It is assumed that this operation was part of the normal production cycles.